Demographic Aspects of the Development of Human Capital in Russia and its Regions

In the present paper, the contemporary demographic situation that has developed in Russia – which can be described in terms of a demographic crisis – is analysed. One of its most salient characteristics consists in the negative qualitative changes that are occurring in the population, many of them due to the consequences of modern information technology. The negative qualitative changes in the population, which essentially began during the second half of the 1980s and have increased in present-day Russia, prevent the development of human capital in the country. This being the case, the authors give their own interpretation of the concept of “human capital”. The purpose of the work is to justify the primacy of the demographic factor in the formation and development of human capital. Migration in the form of a brain drain also has a negative impact on the development of human capital in Russia and its regions. Confirmation of the above-mentioned thesis is provided in a human development index, calculated for the country as a whole and for its regions. In the work, the methods of demographic analysis, the demographic indicators and indexes, which can be used to analyse the qualitative characteristics of the population, are used. The authors arrive at the conclusion that it is impossible at the present stage to develop human capital without first solving the demographic problems. This is especially true for some regions of Russia.A greater awareness of this will contribute to a more efficient management of demographic processes, which will, in turn, guarantee the positive development of human capital, strengthening and developing the Russian economy and society as a whole

Clinical and Laboratory Data Which Are Not Typical of De Novo Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a heterogeneous group of diseases of the lymphatic system, which is represented by de novo and secondary tumors resulting from the transformation of indolent lymphomas. In the absence of a long history of the disease at the stage of histological transformation (HT), it is difficult to distinguish between de novo and secondary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. According to the data of a randomized study, we obtained clinical and laboratory data that are not typical for de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. These include exclusive, predominant retroperitoneal localization, compression of the ureters/kidneys with or without the development of acute renal failure (ARF), unilateral lymphostasis of the leg due to compression of the inguinal, iliac lymph nodes by the conglomerate, intratumor in the central nervous system (CNS) at the onset/relapse/progression of the disease, discordant bone marrow involvement, blood involvement, paraprotein secretion

Demographic Aspects of Human Capital Development in Russia and Its Regions

In the article, the current demographic situation that has developed in Russia and can be described as a demographic crisis is analysed. One of its most important characteristics is the negative qualitative changes that occur in the population. Modern information technology contributes a lot to this process. The negative qualitative changes in the population, which have begun in the second half of the 1980s and have increased in present-day Russia, prevent the development of human capital in the country. In addition to that, the authors give their own interpretation of the concept of "human capital". The purpose of the paper is to justify the primacy of the demographic factor in the formation and development of human capital. Migration in the form of a brain drain also has a negative impact on the development of human capital in Russia and its regions. The human development index calculated for the country as a whole and for its regions confirms the above-mentioned. In the paper, the methods of demographic analysis, the demographic indicators and indexes, which can serve to analyse the qualitative characteristics of the population, are utilized. The authors arrive at the conclusion that at the present stage, it is impossible to develop human capital without solving the demographic problems. This is especially true for some regions of Russia. Awareness of this will contribute to the more efficient management of demographic processes, which, in turn, will guarantee the positive development of human capital, strengthening and development of the Russian economy and society as a whole

Effect of probiotic strains upon intestinal immune system under cold stress

Gut microbiome changes can be considered as a causative factor of stress-associated intestinal diseases. The aim of the investigation was to study the effects of the oral probiotic strains Lactobacillus casei LB 148 and E. coli EB 387 onto gut microbiota, as well as the intestinal immune system of rats Sprague Dawley in a healthy state and under cold stress. There are no strict official recommendations here in the Russian Federation for preclinical studies of new probiotic strains. Here we describe a method used to estimate the safety and effectiveness of the oral use of a probiotic. It is cheap and simple, so we recommend using it at least for the screening search of effective and safe probiotics. The number of Peyer’s patches in the small intestine of rats in different compartments was counted and then compared between different groups of rats. After cold stress there was a change in the number of Peyer’s patches together with microbiota shifts. Lactobacillus casei LB 148 as well as E. coli EB 387 protected the immune system against the stress effects

Indigenous strains of lactobacilli as a basis for probiotics design

Lactobacilli are the most common microbes used in therapy and farm breeding. Their effectiveness and safety depend on species and strains of bacteria. In this investigation the most importance properties more than two hundred of Lactobacilli strains were studies. They were divided to the groups in dependence of their origin. The antagonistic activity between the members of different groups as well as between Lactobacilli and pathogens and opportunistic microbes were analyzed. It was found that the source of the bacteria determine the adhesive properties, bacterial antagonism and bacteriocins production

Why and How the Indo-Mediterranean Diet May Be Superior to Other Diets: The Role of Antioxidants in the Diet

The Seven Countries Study showed that traditional Japanese and Mediterranean diets are protective against cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The Japanese diet is considered the healthiest because it provides Japanese populations with the highest longevity and health. DASH and Mediterranean-style diets are also considered healthy diets, although the Indo-Mediterranean-style diet may provide better protective effects among patients with CVDs compared to other diets. The concept of the Indo-Mediterranean type of diet was developed after examining its role in the prevention of CVDs in India, the value of which was confirmed by a landmark study from France: the Lyon Heart Study. These workers found that consuming an alpha-linolenic acid-rich Mediterranean-style diet can cause a significant decline in CVDs and all-cause mortality. Later in 2018, the PREDIMED study from Spain also reported that a modified Mediterranean-style diet can cause a significant decline in CVDs, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and cancer. The Indo-Mediterranean diet may be superior to DASH and Mediterranean diets because it contains millets, porridge, and beans, as well as spices such as turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and coriander, which may have better anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects. These foods are rich sources of nutrients, flavonoids, calcium, and iron, as well as proteins, which are useful in the prevention of under- and overnutrition and related diseases. It is known that DASH and Mediterranean-style diets have a similar influence on CVDs. However, the Indo-Mediterranean-style diet may be as good as the Japanese diet due to improved food diversity and the high content of antioxidants

STR Profiling Reveals Tumor Genome Instability in Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma

Primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is the only non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma variant responding to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, approximately in half of the cases; however, no molecular markers predicting a response to ICI therapy in PMBCL have been described so far. In this study, we assessed the incidence of the loss of heterozygosity (LOH), elevated microsatellite alteration at selected tetranucleotides (EMAST), and microsatellite instability (MSI) in the tumor genomes of 72 patients with PMBCL undergoing high-dose chemotherapy treatment at the National Research Center for Hematology (Moscow, Russia). Tumor DNA was isolated from biopsy samples taken at diagnosis. Control DNA was isolated from the blood of patients in complete remission or from buccal epithelium. STR-profiles for LOH and EMAST were assessed by PCR with COrDIS Plus multiplex kit (Gordiz Ltd., Moscow, Russia). LOH was detected in 37 of 72 patients (51.4%). EMAST was found in 40 patients (55.5%); 24 had a combination of EMAST with LOH. MSI-high was not found, while MSI-low was detected only in one patient. The association of certain genetic lesions with the clinical outcome in patients receiving treatment according to the standard clinical protocol R-Da-EPOCH-21 has been estimated (58 patients out of 72) and no associations with the worst overall or event-free survival were found

Catalogue of wood plants of the Mountain Botanical Garden

The unique scientific installation "System of experimental bases of the Mountain Botanical Garden of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences" includes two experimental bases (EB): Gunib EB - 30 ha in area, located at the Gunib plateau (1600 - 1950 m above sea level), Tsudakhar EB - 10 ha in area, located 2 km away from the village of Tsudakhar (1100-1250 m above sea level). Collections of the experimental bases include woody plants from the Northern Hemisphere, including resource, rare and endemic flora of the North Caucasus and Dagestan. The catalogue has been compiled on basis of the plant lists prepared by the supervisors of the Mountain Botanical Garden Laboratory of Woody Plants Introduction and Genetic Resources. Currently, the collection of the Mountain Botanical Garden includes 1260 taxa of woody plants: 439 species, 19 subspecies, 239 population forms and 559 varieties, 139 genera, representing 58 families. The following genera are the most widespread, according to their type and species variety: Malus (167 taxa), Pyrus (78), Armeniaca (65), Sorbus (59), Lonicera (53), Cerasus (46), Rosa (43), Juniperus (43), Rubus (41), Acer (37), Ribes (33). The collection includes 22 species of woody plants included in the Red Books of Russia and Dagestan